McLaren Vale wine region Regional summary report 2007 WINEGRAPE UTILISATION AND PRICING SURVEY 2007 79
80 McLaren Vale Vintage overview Vintage report A dry winter, followed by a dry spring, saw a reduction in rainfall recorded to less than half the long-term average. This resulted in low soil moisture levels at budburst. Shoot growth was reduced and irrigation began in many vineyards much earlier than over the last few seasons. The dry season had McLaren Vale s irrigation water supplies pushed to the limit. The district s large-scale water recycling, with 40% of the region accessing reclaimed water from the suburbs of Adelaide, proved highly valuable. However even with this extra water available growing conditions were the toughest in recent memory. Weather conditions were also unusually cold during spring with night-time temperatures getting close to freezing during September and October. Fortunately only isolated patches of frost damage were seen. Summer was mild with good weather and no significant disease issues. The only rain that fell came in late January with 40-50mm falling in a thunderstorm. This caused berry splitting which further reduced the harvest. No further rain fell to interfere with ripening, and botrytis and other bunch rots were not an issue. With the drought conditions and low yields ripening was early and many vineyards were harvested two weeks earlier than 2006. Harvest began in the middle of February. The harvested tonnage in McLaren Vale was greatly affected by the drought conditions. Picking was rapid with most wineries giving staff the Easter Holidays off. All fruit was into the wineries by the middle of April. Overview of vintage statistics The harvest from McLaren Vale was 35,293 tonnes in 2007, compared with over 63,000 tonnes in 2006. The estimated total value of the grapes decreased from $69 million to $46 million, a substantial reduction in income, but less than the loss in volume. Average purchase values for most of the major varieties increased, with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon both up by around $200 per tonne. New plantings in McLaren Vale in spring 2006 (including top-working and replacements) amounted to 77 hectares (approximately 1% of the total area) mostly in Shiraz. While this is a very small amount, it is higher than the previous year, and there is no indication of any significant removal of grapevines being undertaken in the region. The estimated production from McLaren Vale for 2008 is around 66,000 tonnes (assuming reasonable spring rainfall). 48,000 tonnes is already committed to the wineries, leaving around 17,000 tonnes uncontracted. Any uncontracted fruit is likely to be in demand, as shortfalls are predicted across the state, due to water restrictions and the after-effects of drought and frost in other regions (see State Summary section). By 2012, the estimated production is 70,000 tonnes, of which 57% (40,000 tonnes) is already under contract or winery grown fruit. This proportion is low compared with most other regions, and leaves an estimated 30,000 tonnes more than one third of production - to be sold on the open market. There is likely to be a return to over-supply on the open market across the state by 2012, if growing conditions return to normal (see State Summary section for details). James Hook McLaren Vale Grape, Wine and Tourism Association
McLaren Vale Winegrape intake summary vintage 2007 Variety Tonnes purchased Lowest price 1 Highest price Total value purchased grapes Calc avg. purchase value per tonne grown fruit Total crushed Est total value ALL grapes RED Cabernet Franc 29 $600 $2,000 $29,447 $1,001 42 71 $71,178 Cabernet Sauvignon 3,218 $350 $5,000 $4,027,043 $1,251 1,775 4,993 $6,247,930 Grenache 1,293 $600 $3,000 $1,650,664 $1,276 843 2,136 $2,726,037 Malbec 3 $3,070 $1,228 23 26 $31,412 Mataro 15 $1,200 $2,300 $26,555 $1,759 133 148 $260,520 Merlot 1,472 $600 $1,680 $1,583,204 $1,075 745 2,217 $2,384,453 Other Red 20 $600 $2,000 $29,574 $1,510 201 220 $332,972 Petit Verdot 248 $550 $1,500 $286,624 $1,154 228 476 $549,827 Pinot Noir 514 $500 $1,804 $632,742 $1,230 79 594 $730,427 Ruby Cabernet 0 6 6 $8,980 Sangiovese 55 $950 $1,800 $75,866 $1,375 159 214 $294,799 Shiraz 10,777 $100 $7,104 $16,115,326 $1,495 4,499 15,276 $22,842,370 Tempranillo 22 $800 $1,800 $32,006 $1,424 74 96 $136,666 Total red winegrapes 17,668 $24,492,121 8,806 26,474 $36,617,572 RED Chardonnay 4,434 $600 $2,000 $4,187,714 $944 1,596 6,030 $5,695,387 Chenin Blanc 14 $12,337 $881 30 44 $38,421 Colombard 16 $16,312 $1020 0 16 $16,312 Other White 100 $650 $5,300 $175,721 $1,765 114 213 $376,258 Pinot Gris 28 $27,980 $999 55 83 $83,415 Riesling 311 $700 $1,500 $304,278 $978 185 496 $485,195 Sauvignon Blanc 451 $600 $1,900 $618,831 $1,371 234 686 $940,084 Semillon 524 $450 $1,778 $453,003 $865 330 854 $738,071 Traminer 20 $16,290 $819 0 20 $16,290 Verdelho 32 $45,574 $1,422 49 81 $115,683 Viognier 178 $1,800 $2,000 $329,091 $1,846 118 296 $546,368 Total white winegrapes 6,108 $6,187,130 2,711 8,819 $9,051,485 Total all winegrapes 23,776 $30,679,251 11,517 35,293 $45,669,057 1 Lowest and highest prices paid are only reported where there are at least three purchasers WINEGRAPE UTILISATION AND PRICING SURVEY 2007 81
82 McLaren Vale Historical WAP vs tonnes crushed 2500 80000 Tonnes crushed 70000 2000 60000 1500 WAP - Shiraz 50000 1000 WAP - Cabernet Sauvignon WAP - Chardonnay 40000 30000 500 20000 10000 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 0
McLaren Vale Current plantings and projected production 2008-2012 Current area in hectares by year planted Estimated production 2008-2012 Variety Pre-2004 2004 2005 2006 Total % planted in 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Red winegrapes Barbera 8 0 1 0 9 0% 74 78 78 82 82 Cabernet Franc 24 0 0 0 24 0% 212 212 212 222 222 Cabernet Sauvignon 1311 5 0 5 1321 0% 10526 10545 10572 11101 11101 Grenache 416 1 0 2 419 0% 3757 3766 3780 3969 3969 Mataro (Mouvedre) 23 1 1 5 30 17% 219 245 278 291 291 Merlot 315 2 0 0 317 0% 2849 2849 2849 2992 2992 Nebbiolo 48 0 0 0 49 0% 437 438 438 460 460 Other red 20 6 2 0 28 0% 243 252 252 265 265 Petit Verdot 66 0 0 1 67 2% 593 600 613 643 643 Pinot Noir 81 0 0 0 81 0% 729 729 729 766 766 Sangiovese 43 3 4 0 49 0% 424 440 440 462 462 Shiraz 3378 31 22 39 3471 1% 30785 31059 31325 32891 32891 Tempranillo 22 2 1 0 25 0% 220 225 225 236 236 Total red winegrapes 5755 50 31 52 5888 1% 51070 51439 51791 54381 54381 White winegrapes Chardonnay 680 47 5 3 735 0% 8756 8805 8842 9284 9284 Chenin Blanc 17 0 0 2 20 11% 208 221 247 260 260 Marsanne 14 0 0 0 14 2% 163 165 168 176 176 Other white 11 1 1 1 14 9% 148 162 178 186 186 Pinot Gris 1 1 10 4 16 27% 79 162 200 210 210 Riesling 78 0 1 0 79 0% 942 948 948 996 996 Roussanne 9 1 0 0 10 0% 126 126 126 132 132 Sauvignon Blanc 109 8 3 7 128 6% 1672 1745 1824 1915 1915 Semillon 126 0 0 0 126 0% 1507 1507 1507 1583 1583 Verdelho 21 0 0 0 21 2% 249 252 257 269 269 Viognier 48 10 12 6 76 8% 766 872 927 973 973 Total white winegrapes 1114 69 32 25 1239 2% 14617 14965 15223 15984 15984 Rootstock Block 1 0 0 0 1 0% Total all varieties 6870 119 62 77 7128 1% 65687 66404 67014 70365 70365 WINEGRAPE UTILISATION AND PRICING SURVEY 2007 83
84 McLaren Vale Estimated production and committed intake 2008-2012 Variety Est Supply 1 2008 2010 2012 Uncontracted Un- Est grown Contract contracted Est grown fruit 3 Supply 1 grapes 2 purchases 2 fruit 3 Supply 1 grapes 2 grown Contract grapes 2 purchases 2 Contract purchases 2 Uncontracted fruit 3 Red winegrapes Cabernet Franc 212 80 28 104 212 102 28 82 222 102 28 93 Cabernet Sauvignon 10,526 4,083 3,784 2,660 10,572 4,280 2,918 3,374 11,101 4,305 1,850 4,946 Grenache 3,757 1,630 1,264 863 3,780 1,701 1,134 946 3,969 1,757 937 1,276 Malbec 0 36 3-39 0 25 3-28 0 25 3-28 Mataro 219 153 30 36 278 153 30 95 291 153 24 114 Merlot 2,849 1,271 987 591 2,849 1,312 802 735 2,992 1,330 614 1,048 Other Red 754 284 22 448 768 290 22 456 806 290 22 494 Petit Verdot 593 238 242 114 613 282 136 195 643 282 88 273 Pinot Noir 729 147 407 176 729 160 379 190 766 166 273 327 Ruby Cabernet 0 17 0-17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sangiovese 424 178 92 155 440 176 97 168 462 176 64 223 Shiraz 30,785 9,152 14,279 7,354 31,325 9,737 11,325 10,263 32,891 9,868 9,290 13,733 Tempranillo 220 151 36 33 225 150 24 51 236 151 24 61 Total red winegrapes 51,070 17,419 21,173 12,478 51,791 18,368 16,898 16,525 54,381 18,604 13,216 22,560 White winegrapes Chardonnay 8,756 2,917 2,837 3,002 8,842 3,022 2,154 3,666 9,284 3,063 1,458 4,764 Chenin Blanc 208 63 0 145 247 76 0 171 260 76 0 184 Colombard 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other White 436 183 159 94 471 185 141 145 495 185 141 169 Pinot Gris 79 140 0-61 200 155 0 45 210 164 0 46 Riesling 942 268 494 180 948 312 474 163 996 312 317 367 Sauvignon Blanc 1,672 475 590 607 1,824 533 560 731 1,915 559 394 962 Semillon 1,507 466 486 555 1,507 489 393 625 1,583 507 272 804 Traminer 0 0 10-10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Verdelho 249 169 75 5 257 169 75 12 269 169 53 47 Viognier 766 183 220 363 927 193 221 512 973 194 221 557 Total white winegrapes 14,617 4,866 4,871 4,880 15,223 5,134 4,019 6,070 15,984 5,229 2,856 7,900 Total all winegrapes 65,687 22,285 26,044 17,357 67,014 23,501 20,917 22,595 70,365 23,833 16,072 30,460 1 Supply forecast derived from planting details recorded on PGIB vineyard register (see planting report) 2 A raising factor of 1.105 has been applied to these figures to allow for non-respondents 3 A negative number indicates supply forecast is below wineries' estimated commitment